Simms Family Portrait; Part II

This past weekend was a blast, the art tour went very well, but I do have to say it was exhausting.  All the prep work and hours did make a difference though,and it was lovely to have so many visitors and fellow artists and art enthusiasts through my studio.  Thank you to all who came to support the local artists! I did paint during the show, my work in progress was the “Simms Family Portrait”, which is coming along swimmingly and I think I am almost half done! Here I am in my little set up for the weekend painting my heart out.

The contrast in this photo is amazing, so I started painting the dark background base color using burnt umber, yellow ochre, lamp black and a smidgen of french ultramarine blue.

Adam set up a computer beside my easel, which is just GREAT for zooming in for close ups, this comes in handy for detailing facial features and getting accurate shapes.

I started to paint the legs, arms and faces in warmer tones.  I am taking a bit of artistic liberty in warming up the shot, remember the photo has aged over 80 years since it was taken and has yellowed a bit, the greens are a tad sickly and I want the Simms to look their best for their portrait debut! I have also noticed that I need to have a better painting posture.

The basic color of their skin is finished, I realize they look washed out, but I am only a third of the way done here. I was really tempted to use burnt sienna (my favorite adding color), but this would have probably changed the original colors drastically.  Burnt umber and white will have to do.

Here it is as it stands today, I am so glad Mary wore a shimmery dress that day, the light caught on her sleeves is beautiful and I fear it would have blended into the background if it didn’t have that little bit of something.  I still have a bit of work to do on the faces and background, but I am well on my way.